Tuesday, August 7, 2007

A View of East Kalimantan Culture

The East Kalimantan province, which has an area of 211,440 square meters, was known as Borneo. It has been through a long history, started with the coming of other ethnics to this area, through trade and religion, and also the will of those people to get a better life in this area. This situation has created a standard, which has made a specific society values, culture, and economic. Started with the spreading journey of the people in the inner area, coast, and also the influence of the kingdom/kraton, which at last also created different taste and creation.A big number of the central tribes in East Kalimantan are Dayak tribe/the Dayaks who inhabit the inner area, and is divided in groups: Kenyah tribe, Basap Berusu, Lebu, Punan, Bahau, Modang, Benuaq, Tunjung, Putuk, Sengai, Aoheng (Panihing), Tengggalan, Bukat, Buraq Mato, and so on. The coastal area is inhabited by people from Bajau Tribe, Bulungan, Tidung, Kutai (Melayu), Banjar, and Bugis. At that time in East Kalimantan, there were kingdoms, such as the oldest Mulawarman Kingdom, and so in creating the culture it was influenced also by this situation.The influence of the condition, geographically and topographically, and also the diversity of the tribes have created different cultures of the tribes or the inhabitants, the coast, and the kingdom. The culture diversity is clearly seen from the arts, whether it is the dance art, handicraft, or other creations. Also from the movement rhytm in the dance and the costume design, material, or ornament, and the coloring of the handicraft, and so on.Therefore, East Kalimantan as the 15th tourism destination in Indonesia, which has beautiful nature, many kinds of interesting culture with the civilization and traditional dance, traditional ceremony, handicrafts, and a lot of other. Started with the inhabitant culture, kingdom, and coastal culture.